It no longer captivated me.
"Sometimes I forget how human your types are," she said.
"So you are Jinn? Why did you bring me here?" I asked her.
"Well, I didn't actually bring you here, Deleer makes his own decisions."
'Deleer, come here boy. '
The small griffin bounded around the corner and came to a stop by his mistress's feet. I wanted a pet griffin.
"Deleer is my eyes in the world when I cannot leave my home, but it was his initiative that brought you here. And yet, it had to be your initiative as well. Why did you seek me?"
"Seek you?" I didn't feel entirely well. I was confused beyond reason and my head was cloudy. The air in this garden was too fragrant. It defied reason.
"For Deleer to show himself to you, you had to be thinking of me."
I tried to remember what I had thought of before I first saw Deleer. I had thought of Nagissa. I had thought of the Jinn. I had thought of one Jinni in particular.
"Pareen.”
"Yes, but I'm afraid I don't have the pleasure of knowing you. Or how you know me." She grimaced. Despite how she carried herself and the confidence she exerted, Pareen was uncomfortable with our meeting. Names hold power, especially for her kind. Though this was her common name, not the secret one that could be used to bring her to her knees, for Nagissa to tell me Pareen’s name had been a big deal.
So I explained to her who I was. I explained about Nagissa and Ramtin. She stopped me when I mentioned him.
"I don't like what he’s doing. Actually, I’m very worried about his dealings."
Finally! Someone had answers. "Well, that makes two of us. Except you have the advantage of knowing more it seems. What is he up to?"
She sighed. Her form shimmered slightly but she became solid again. "My people have been following him for several years now. He’s amassing power. Enough power to put an end to us."
"An end to who? Everyone? The Jinn?"
"The Jinn, mostly, but not only us. Anyone with power. Political power, natural power, wealth. He is targeting them all."
"Targeting them? Why?"
"How much do you know about Ramtin?"
I started pacing along the pool, watching the sun's reflection. "I know he is in a rock band."
She nodded. "He always reinvents himself in ways that give him access to important people."
"I also know he had something to do with a native prophecy coming true."
"A native prophecy?"
"A prophecy about the seventh generation after the first contact of these people with the European settlers. It is a prophecy about destruction of the land. A lot of it has happened already; the earthquakes for example."
"The earthquakes were part of a prophecy? What else?"
"Soulless stone monsters. They are not yet so numerous in Montreal that the general population knows about them, but I'm afraid it's getting worse."
"We've seen a few here, but we can dispatch them easily enough," she said. "Do you know what Ramtin is?"
"He is one like me. One like Nagissa."
"He is one like Nagissa was, but not exactly one like you."
"Nagissa was ?"
"Every story has its time. Ramtin is what you like to call a Gargoyle. But as you were created by sacrificing an essencialist and taking all her essence, Ramtin and his kind were created by sacrificing a Jinni. That makes him a lot more powerful than the type you are accustomed to meeting."
"But Jinn are made..."
She nodded. "Yes, Jinn are made of nothing but essence. So, though a powerful enough essencialist, or one you are bonded to, can feed or pull essence from you, she could do little for Ramtin's type."
"So then I need the Jinn to fight Ramtin?"
"I'm not sure. Ramtin has been amassing an army of sorts. He’s recruiting anybody with any ability to manipulate essence... Luckily, the world is in short supply of these as of late. But he's been preying on my kind as well. I don't know if anything can stop him. Did you seek me out to ask about Ramtin? If you did, I'm afraid I have no answers."
"You've already told me a lot. But I came looking for answers
"Sometimes I forget how human your types are," she said.
"So you are Jinn? Why did you bring me here?" I asked her.
"Well, I didn't actually bring you here, Deleer makes his own decisions."
'Deleer, come here boy. '
The small griffin bounded around the corner and came to a stop by his mistress's feet. I wanted a pet griffin.
"Deleer is my eyes in the world when I cannot leave my home, but it was his initiative that brought you here. And yet, it had to be your initiative as well. Why did you seek me?"
"Seek you?" I didn't feel entirely well. I was confused beyond reason and my head was cloudy. The air in this garden was too fragrant. It defied reason.
"For Deleer to show himself to you, you had to be thinking of me."
I tried to remember what I had thought of before I first saw Deleer. I had thought of Nagissa. I had thought of the Jinn. I had thought of one Jinni in particular.
"Pareen.”
"Yes, but I'm afraid I don't have the pleasure of knowing you. Or how you know me." She grimaced. Despite how she carried herself and the confidence she exerted, Pareen was uncomfortable with our meeting. Names hold power, especially for her kind. Though this was her common name, not the secret one that could be used to bring her to her knees, for Nagissa to tell me Pareen’s name had been a big deal.
So I explained to her who I was. I explained about Nagissa and Ramtin. She stopped me when I mentioned him.
"I don't like what he’s doing. Actually, I’m very worried about his dealings."
Finally! Someone had answers. "Well, that makes two of us. Except you have the advantage of knowing more it seems. What is he up to?"
She sighed. Her form shimmered slightly but she became solid again. "My people have been following him for several years now. He’s amassing power. Enough power to put an end to us."
"An end to who? Everyone? The Jinn?"
"The Jinn, mostly, but not only us. Anyone with power. Political power, natural power, wealth. He is targeting them all."
"Targeting them? Why?"
"How much do you know about Ramtin?"
I started pacing along the pool, watching the sun's reflection. "I know he is in a rock band."
She nodded. "He always reinvents himself in ways that give him access to important people."
"I also know he had something to do with a native prophecy coming true."
"A native prophecy?"
"A prophecy about the seventh generation after the first contact of these people with the European settlers. It is a prophecy about destruction of the land. A lot of it has happened already; the earthquakes for example."
"The earthquakes were part of a prophecy? What else?"
"Soulless stone monsters. They are not yet so numerous in Montreal that the general population knows about them, but I'm afraid it's getting worse."
"We've seen a few here, but we can dispatch them easily enough," she said. "Do you know what Ramtin is?"
"He is one like me. One like Nagissa."
"He is one like Nagissa was, but not exactly one like you."
"Nagissa was ?"
"Every story has its time. Ramtin is what you like to call a Gargoyle. But as you were created by sacrificing an essencialist and taking all her essence, Ramtin and his kind were created by sacrificing a Jinni. That makes him a lot more powerful than the type you are accustomed to meeting."
"But Jinn are made..."
She nodded. "Yes, Jinn are made of nothing but essence. So, though a powerful enough essencialist, or one you are bonded to, can feed or pull essence from you, she could do little for Ramtin's type."
"So then I need the Jinn to fight Ramtin?"
"I'm not sure. Ramtin has been amassing an army of sorts. He’s recruiting anybody with any ability to manipulate essence... Luckily, the world is in short supply of these as of late. But he's been preying on my kind as well. I don't know if anything can stop him. Did you seek me out to ask about Ramtin? If you did, I'm afraid I have no answers."
"You've already told me a lot. But I came looking for answers
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